10 million to the bench: whittingham benches underwood and gets rewarded

Michigan beat Penn State 21-18 on Saturday at Michigan Stadium, and true freshman quarterback Tommy Carr was the reason. Bryce Underwood was benched at halftime after a first half where he threw two interceptions and the Wolverines trailed 3-0. Carr, who is Lloyd Carr’s grandson and the younger brother of Notre Dame QB CJ Carr, had barely played before this, with only mop-up snaps against UTEP in Week

The crowd cheered as Carr took the field for the second-half kickoff, and his first play was a pass to JJ Buchanan for a first down. The offense stalled at first, but it came alive soon after thanks to Carr's leadership and strong run game depth.

Wolverines RB Bryson Kuzdzal broke out after a rough start to the season as the Teams RB4. Kuzdzal made the most of his opportunities on Saturday and ran quite hard. Kuzdzal broke a 43-yard touchdown run to start the scoring for the Wolverines shortly after the Nittany Lions opened the games scoring with a early field goal to notch the score at 7-3.

In response to the early field goal, Carr then led touchdown drives after two Penn State turnovers. The second drive featured a 22-yard Carr draw up the middle that set up a short Jordan Marshall touchdown run for a 14-3 Wolverines lead late in the third quarter.

Michigan fans should be excited to see freshman Savion Hiter, Marshall, and Kuzdzal all producing at an elite level out of the backfield.

Penn State fought back quickly however, and RB Carson Hansen’s short touchdown run and a two-point conversion pulled the Nittany Lions within three early in the fourth quarter at 14-11. Michigan began to lose momentum, but Carr soon put the game away.

After Rocco Becht lost a fumble in Penn State territory late, Carr converted a third down with a 12-yard touchdown run with 2:58 left, which gave Michigan a two-score lead at 21-11. Carr's final line was modest, 5-for-7 for 47 yards through the air, plus 36 rushing yards, but he produced when Michigan needed it and ran the offense smartly and efficiently.

The Nittany Lions responded with a late TD to make the score 21-18, which would represent the final score of the game. Michigan held onto their late lead to win Carr's first start in a massive game for the momentum of the program.

The win moved Michigan to 4-2 and gave the Wolverines their first Big Ten win of the season. Coach Kyle Whittingham summed it up simply: “Tommy gave us a spark.”

It made for a storybook afternoon following a bold decision from Whittingham to bench his $10 million dollar quarterback.

Since the great Lloyd Carr was in the stands to watch his grandson lead the Maize & Blue, questions will be raised about whether or not Tommy can live up to his legendary last name.

The quarterback question now gets interesting for Michigan and Kyle Whittingham heading into next Saturday's game against No. 5 Indiana, a game that the Wolverines absolutely must win.